Transport pathway identification in fractured aquifers: A stochastic event synchrony-based framework

Yosri, Ahmed; Dickson‐Anderson, Sarah; Siam, Ahmad; El‐Dakhakhni, Wael

doi:10.1016/j.advwatres.2020.103800

Cited by 6 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 61 publications

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“…The CTRW and FDEs approaches adopt an empirical transition time distribution and a set of spatiotemporal fractional derivatives to account for the non-Fickian contaminant behavior in fractures, respectively [41]. The DFN modeling approach relies on conceptualizing the fractures as a set of one-dimensional pipes connected in a network-like architecture, and it has been suggested as the most accurate conceptualization approach [22,44,[50][51][52]. As extensive resources are typically required to exactly identify the properties of all fractures existing in the aquifer (e.g., location, length, orientation, and hydraulic attributes), a set of site-representative DFNs are generated stochastically based on limited in situ investigations when the DFN modeling approach is adopted [53].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Analytically Enhanced Random Walk Approach for Rapid Concentration Mapping in Fractured Aquifers

Yosri,

Ghaith,

Ahmed

et al. 2024

Water

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The efficient management and remediation of contaminated fractured aquifers necessitate an accurate prediction of the spatial distribution of contaminant concentration within the system. Related existing analytical solutions are only applicable to single fractures and have not yet been extrapolated to the aquifer scale where a network of connected fractures exists. The Random Walk Particle Tracking (RWPT) method has been extensively adopted for concentration mapping in Discrete Fracture Networks (DFNs), albeit at exorbitant computational costs and without efficiently accommodating complex physical processes (e.g., two-site kinetics). This study introduces an analytically enhanced Spatiotemporal Random Walk (STRW) approach that facilitates the efficient time-dependent mapping of contaminant concentration in DFNs. The STRW approach employs a distribution function to simultaneously estimate the displacement of particles released through the system either instantaneously or over time. The STRW approach efficiently reproduced the contaminant concentration, calculated using available analytical solutions under a range of fate and transport mechanisms. The efficacy of the STRW approach is also confirmed in a synthetic impermeable DFN through replicating the concentration maps produced using the RWPT method. The developed approach represents an accurate and computationally efficient dynamic concentration mapping technique that can support the effective operation, management, and remediation of fractured aquifers under contamination events.

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